Dark Souls

[Golgo]

Played another hour or so just now and I think there are still one or two negatives that need mentioning here, just to get some perspective on all the praise. I've noticed that the AI still isn't too bright and enemies sometimes gets stuck on scenery or run off a cliff blindly. Doesn't spoil it for me, though. I put it down to them being monsters and undead and such so you can't expect them to be too smart. Some graphical glitching too. Fragments of broken items/crates hanging suspended in mid-air, etc., but maybe that's jsut down to all magic swirling about the place? Anyway, my brain is all too ready to find workarounds to explain away the few bad things that have been carried forward from Demons.

[saturn-gamer]

There are more issues but they don't hamper the game. The sometimes broken AI is okay, I sometimes abuse it. But there are some framerate issues that make Demon's Souls stonefang tunnel move like a blazing 60fps game. Its not apparent during the first batch of areas but wait until you move deeper into the game.

Another issue with this game is the online play.

The first thing is the fact that you have to buy a orange stone from a well hidden merchant a lot of people kill by accident. I walked around without the ability to write messages for at least 2 hours because I did not know where to get the stone. The other issue is that there are no servers. The game is not as crowded as Demon's Souls and won't ever be. There are hardly messages and ratings going around as they'll likely be limited to players near you. The community feel is less apparent in this game which is a pity.

Overall, the level design and combat is more fun imho. Its a reall well done game, likely one of the best of this generation.

[PeteJ]

I didn't really know what to expect going into this but so far I think it is amazing, greatly exceeded any expectations I had. I was expecting to find the difficulty a real turn off but it actually just makes me like it more. I have no idea what's going on or what half the mechanics mean but I've spent half a day glued to the game only stopping to make some food!

Level 13 Pyro, killed the first dude with a proper health bar and now completely stuck. There is a

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knight

just before that boss who keeps kicking my arse and a

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mother fking dragon

on what seems to be the main path, any tips for either of these?

At one point someone suddenly appeared in my game then seconds later vanished again, what the hell was all that about?

[rmoxon]

There are loads of people around. There are more messages knocking about than I ever saw in demons souls and I had the US version of that. I have the UK one of this which I would presume has less people on it.

[saturn-gamer]

I hardly see any messages and most aren't being rated. It probably means that not many people in my area play Dark Souls.

I was on the Asian servers of Demon's Souls and it was very crowded which felt good.

[Charlie]

Regarding the in-game messages, can you leave any message you want, no matter how vague or random?

[Silvergun X]

I love playing Thief.

Super happy weapon spoiler: Just obtained the

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Drake Sword, by shooting the Dragon's tail repeatedly from underneath the bridge. It took 26 arrows at Dexterity 21 for me.

[Golgo]

Regarding the in-game messages, can you leave any message you want, no matter how vague or random?

Not really: you can combine from a number of pre-set words and phrases, but there's still enough flexibility there to be useful or mischievous - which is my preferred thing.

[ruarai]

Thanks,now if only I didn't have track for miles to repair my Halberd that I've broken fighting those two bastards.Well it will be worth it to get the guilt off my chest.
Tried to post earlier but the site went down thank you rmoxon.

[briareos_kerensky]

Explored

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Darkroot Garden and the nearby Basin more

and found

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a Longbow with some arrows! Met the Hydra there. From afar. Through binocular lenses. Went to the nearby door that probably leads back to Undead Burg but it was locked.

Oh well.
Continued to

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go down the Basin only to be anbushed by a horned knight with an halberd:

hit the wrong button at the wrong time and he stabbed me, only to see him continue to attack and fall down a cliff just when the screen started fading to black.
Ah, I don't know how many souls I lost there, though I was able to retrieve my body without any problem,

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reach the end of the Basin, take an elevator to what I though was Blightown and instead I found myself sorrounded by blue dragons.
Quickly loaded a GTFO and traced my steps back to Undead Burg,

where multiple messages told me

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to snipe out the Dragon's tail.

Got the

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Firedrake Sword that is absolutely phenomenal for any class able to wield it, though its stats don't scale with anything. However its strong attack when held by two hands is a ranged one, I was almost able to kill the Capra Demon at the bottom of the Burg.
Left the Capra Demon alone

and explored

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the church in the Undead Parish a bit more, since I left the building right after collecting the Firekeeper Soul and kill the Tanite Knight with the giant mace there. This time a sorcerer tried to snipe me with what I think is Soul Arrow, only that I sniped him back with some arrows. Unfortunately I wasn't able to kill him off, so up the stairs only to find multiple "deprived" undeads protecting him...and the sorcerer buffed them! Trusty Fire Bombs, to me!
Found a gold-plated warrior in a cell, freed him and went to the nearest bonfire after finding what I think is the entrance to an other boss at the top of the church.

[PeteJ]

I'm around that area as well though I think I'm underlevelled for it! I killed the

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mace knight

downstairs and also the

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mage dude with loads of undead around him

however I keep getting stabbed in the back by another knight and I have no idea where he is coming from. Just had my first double-death and lost a load of souls I think investing in a bow maybe a good idea and I might try backtracking to take out some of the special knights I avoided from earlier.

Also my character has suddenly become really slow, I presume my equiped items are too heavy. If I improve stats will my character start getting faster again?

[crocky-chocky]

Beat the chap on the battlements. I love that you can really trounce the bosses once you've put the hours in with all the dying and such...Really reminds me of Castlevania in that sense. I braved the Dragon on the bridge too - Fumbled past him and into the next location...but the snowballing tension was too much and I lost all my Soulin' cred by roley-poleying off a cliff.

Time for a break.

[Silvergun X]

Holy crap I'm completely shaking...

I just defeated the

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double Bell Gargoyles

at level 16, with entirely light armor, with nothing but a shield and rapier.

Turns out the 100% physical block with shields DOES also work on bosses. And it turns out I have the endurance to withstand such a blow to my stamina. The attacks were so slow and heavy that I could recover my stamina in-between blows, and the rapier can be used for stabbing attacks while your shield is still up.

Absolutely ****ing incredible experience!

[briareos_kerensky]

Also my character has suddenly become really slow, I presume my equiped items are too heavy. If I improve stats will my character start getting faster again?

Or you can drop unequipped items, like unused armor and weapons. It's not garaunteed that raising by one point one stat will make your character able to run and roll again.

Absolutely ****ing incredible experience!

Got the two

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Gargoyles too. I was in human form because I had just kindled the nearby bonfire and when I got to the tower there was a summon sign and I said, oh well never hurts to try. The summon wasn't an other player but a NPC I met earlier which drew fire from the Gargoyles and also pounded them with Soul Arrow. The battle was way too easy, I had to recover once and the Gargoyles kept redirecting on the computer-controlled character rather than me.

I also got revenge on the black knight guarding

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the Blue Teardrop Ring

in Undead Burg, he dropped a black knight sword which is better than

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the Drake Sword

(higher base damage, scales with strenght and dexterity) but require strenght 18 and dexterity 15 to wield while I'm 15/14.

[englishbob]

Played for 3 hours straight tonight and got absolutely nowhere whatsoever.

Still have not managed to defeat the Tarus Demon in Undead Burg. I think it highlights what I don't like about 3D gaming, that being boss encounters. Have never really adjusted to them from 2D. However the terrible lock-on in this, the mad camera and the sheer amount of damage a boss can give you is a bit of a turn-off. (The framerate during one attempt also dropped to about 2fps on PS3).

I may return tomorrow when its dark but I cannot see myself getting past this at all. To watch me attempt to fight a boss in most 3D games is hilarious anyway, but contolling your character, hitting the right attack buttons, defensive stances, the bloody camera and locking/breaking free the lock-on, and the reluctance to experiment because the downfall is so damm far, is not making me "enjoy" this.

I am up for the challenge somewhat, but I do think that because this game is well loved that some of its cracks are papered over. I guess I have found my sticking point quite early on (bosses) so that shelf space next to Demon Souls looks like its about to be filled unless I have an eureka moment tomorrow.

EDIT - re-reading my ramblings above, what I am trying to say in a roundabout way is that the general game mechanics do not lend themselves kindly to boss enounters.